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D&D 5E Dispel Magic, Ready action and Fireball
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The Crimson Binome
Hero
It's into the realm of Rulings-Not-Rules, but I would totally allow it at my table. The fact that you need to actually Ready the action means that Counterspell is still way better for this sort of thing.
The Readied action happens after the action which triggers it, but it's easy enough to Ready an action for "When an enemy starts casting a spell". You could even Ready in case the enemy starts casting a specific spell, such as Fireball, if you already have a ruling about being able to ID spells when they are cast - a topic about which the book is entirely silent, but which I allow with an Arcana check.
The only really questionable part is whether the spell is currently "in effect" while it is being cast, but that seems like a reasonable enough interpretation to me. Definitely consult your DM for a ruling on this topic, before you try it in-game.
The Readied action happens after the action which triggers it, but it's easy enough to Ready an action for "When an enemy starts casting a spell". You could even Ready in case the enemy starts casting a specific spell, such as Fireball, if you already have a ruling about being able to ID spells when they are cast - a topic about which the book is entirely silent, but which I allow with an Arcana check.
The only really questionable part is whether the spell is currently "in effect" while it is being cast, but that seems like a reasonable enough interpretation to me. Definitely consult your DM for a ruling on this topic, before you try it in-game.
Xvartslayer
First Post
It seems that their is some bleed-over from previous editions. Counterspell and Dispel Magic are different spells that do different things with different casting times and ranges. Why would you allow Dispel Magic to substitute for Counterspell but not Magic Circle, Phantom Steed or Leomond's Tiny Hut?
Ovinomancer
No flips for you!
Largely because I expect that words mean things.
Rod Staffwand
aka Ermlaspur Flormbator
Dispel magic can target a magical effect. Wouldn't a fireball that has left a caster's hand but not exploded to inflict damage be a valid target? If it must move through the air, couldn't that movement be readied against at a desired point in the trajectory, much as you could a moving enemy?
Ilbranteloth
Explorer
Interesting, although not quite the same thing. If you're being specific rule-wise you can 'ready a silence spell that you'll complete as soon as somebody looks like they are casting a spell.' So the trigger is the act of casting the spell, and the silence spell completes before the target completes their spell.
In the original scenario, the dispel magic was readied to be cast if the target casts a fireball. In that case the fireball is already cast before the dispel magic, and thus too late. If you wanted to go the 3rd edition route you could potentially allow an Intelligence (Arcana) skill check to identify the spell as it is being cast. However, in the case of dispel magic I would probably rule that it still doesn't work because in this case the dispel magic is cast before the target casts their spell, in which case there is no magic to dispel yet.
But, as I stated earlier, since both are 3rd level spells it's probably not a big deal to allow it. In which case it's probably better to just combine the spells and allow the caster to select whether they are using the counter spell or dispel (existing) magic use of the spell. Not what I'd use in my campaign since I have additional skills based on counter spell, but if it works for you...
Ilbranteloth
Well, it's not exactly a substitute, but I guess the reason would be because dispel magic can dispel spells, but the others can't?
Ilbranteloth
Explorer
The depends on what you consider 'instantaneous' to mean, and reaction time. The average reaction time to a visual stimulus is 1/4 to 1/2 a second. If the streak of light of a fireball is even as slow as a bullet, it's about 2,500 feet per second. With a range of up to 150 feet it would reach the target in 1/16 of a second or less, long before the readied action could be released.
The bottom line is that it's not what the spell was intended for, but once again as they are both 3rd level spells go with what works for your game. Just remember that the NPC spell casters have the same opportunities. Note the difference in range for counterspell and dispel magic as well.
Ilbranteloth
Ilbranteloth
Explorer
Because those three spells take 1 minute to cast and you can only ready a spell with a casting time of 1 action (or presumably less).
lbranteloth
The Crimson Binome
Hero
Bullets are kind of ridiculously fast, so I'm not sure that's a fair comparison. A better comparison would be with a baseball. (I'm pretty sure that we're talking about Dispelling the Fireball as it's forming, though - before it's launched.)
Although, really, this is why we have a DM in the game. If they wanted to remove all ambiguity, the book would be significantly larger.
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